The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel were scheduled to meet to discuss urgent emergency care, integrated neighbourhood teams, and other items. The agenda indicates that the panel was expected to review progress on initiatives aimed at improving health and social care services in the borough. The public reports pack contains reports on urgent emergency care, integrated neighbourhood teams, and declarations of interest.

Here's a breakdown of the topics that were scheduled to be discussed:

Health and Social Care Integrated Neighbourhood Teams

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the development of integrated neighbourhood approaches to delivering health and social care. The Health and Care Integrated Neighbourhood Teams report notes that this initiative is a joint programme between the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Royal Borough of Greenwich, designed to create a new operating model for neighbourhood health and care.

The report states that the programme is focused on:

joining up health and care services, using shared data and insights, coordinated care planning, and joined-up workforce planning. This will enable a shift towards prevention and independence so that more people can be supported at home or in their communities.

The report also indicates that the programme is moving from planning into delivery, with significant milestones already achieved, including defining target population groups and identifying neighbourhood footprints to guide service design and integration. The target population groups are:

• People who are mildly frail
• People with long-term conditions (focus on cardiovascular disease and hypertension)
• People who are moderately frail, before escalation point
• People who are moderately frail, at escalation point

The report also states that a proactive care pathway is being developed to strengthen support for people with frailty and multiple long-term conditions, and that a target operating model for adult social care has been developed to align with the neighbourhood approach.

The Healthier Greenwich Partnership has endorsed Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust for the role of integrator¹, and the ICB Board was expected to make a final decision.

The panel was expected to consider the support mechanisms in place for informal carers within neighbourhood teams, and how neighbourhood approaches to health and care will ensure better support for informal carers.

Urgent Emergency Care and Home First

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the delivery of improvement plans relating to preventing hospital admission and ensuring that people are discharged with access to the support and settings that will support their independence. The Urgent Emergency Care and Home First report outlines the vision to deliver an integrated safe and responsive U&EC² model that meets population needs and enables people to access the care they need in the least intensive setting when they need it.

The priority areas are:

• Front door ensuring high quality care, improving the timeliness of UEC responses and sustainability of UEC performance standards.
• Discharge ensuring nobody spends more time in hospital than is necessary with supportive transfers of care and delivery of discharge standards.
• Admission Avoidance reduction in admissions with patients seen in more appropriate settings by utilising alternative care pathways

The report also details a joint review undertaken by Greenwich and Bexley of patient flow and discharge, with support via the Better Care Fund[^4] support programme team, to identify opportunities for system improvement.

The review focused on three main areas:

• Discharge and Flow
• Demand and Capacity
• Leadership

The review resulted in several recommendations, including:

• Implementing recommendations for each of the 9 Discharge Priority Areas with a key focus on parallel discharge planning at the point of admission
• Ensuring equity of access to reablement for patients in both boroughs and reduce the number of P3 assessments done in the acute setting
• Establishing a Care Transfer Hub (CTH) with integrated health and social care staff led by a CTH manager with delegated authority from partner agencies
• Implementing the Effective Discharge Triangle with a priority focus on establishing grip in the discharge process
• Supporting the changes in discharge planning with an organisational development programme to support the greater integration of health and social care staff creating collaborative and trusting relationships

The panel was also expected to discuss the role of Greenwich Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in offering Extended Access appointments outside of their core hours, and the requirement for all PCNs to deliver Capacity and Access Improvement Plans.

The report also highlights a range of community services available to help support admission avoidance, including:

• Joint Emergency Team (JET)
• Virtual Wards
• Care Navigators
• Support to Care Homes

Declarations of Interest

The panel was scheduled to note the list of councillors' memberships on outside bodies, joint committees and school governing bodies, as well as request that members orally declare any personal or financial interests in specific items listed on the agenda. The Declarations of Interest report included a list of the outside bodies, joint committees and school governing bodies that each member of council has been appointed to by the council or the Leader.

Public Questions

The agenda allowed 15 minutes for questions from members of the public on agenda items. According to the Public Questions on Agenda Items report, questions were required to be submitted in writing before the meeting.

Previous Minutes

The panel was expected to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2025 as an accurate record.